Worry. Fret. Stress.
We’re not supposed to do these things…especially if you’re a person of faith.
We’re supposed to cast our cares upon the Lord and leave them there.
If we’re truthful, we don’t always succeed in this area. I know I don’t.
The worries and the burdens we leave at the altar at the end of church usually ride shotgun with us on the drive home.
And worry and stress cause such a reaction in our bodies that it has to be dealt with.
So we overeat.
We have panic attacks.
We create enough stomach acid to fuel a few car batteries. This one I know very well. I could have been the poster child for antacids.
Some turn violent — verbally and physically so.
Some turn to drugs and alcohol…even sex.
We try lots of things to ease the gnawing in our hearts and pain in our body.
Because I can’t be experiencing God’s peace if I’m downing a bottle of TUMS every other day.
There’s a disconnect somewhere and that disconnect has to be dealt with.
We’ve all seen some variation of the social media memes on worry. 
And you try to convince yourself that yes, worry does not take away tomorrow’s trouble…it takes away from today’s peace but your body is not buying what your mouth is saying.
Even uttering peace be still does little to subdue your worries.
Pastor Joel Osteen often says to choose faith over fear. But how do you do that? How do you get your body to buy into what your lips are saying?
I know what we say. I know the declarations we plaster on our Facebook walls. I also know that public and private don’t always mesh.
How do you begin to experience peace? How do you settle your spirit and convince mind and body that everything really will work out for your good even when faced with a storm out over your Red Sea?
I was led to ask someone I consider very wise, Ms. Hitaji Aziz, and she said this:
[tweet_box]Worry will manage your life until you decide to manage a life that will not be victimized by worry and fear. [/tweet_box]
The first step would be to sit down with the event(s) that cause you to worry with the intention of releasing and changing what brings the worry without pretending how you feel. It is best healed with a mentor, therapist or coach.
I believe there are different kinds of stress. There’s stress from outside sources like living in a war zone or from an unexpected job layoff. Then there’s the stress and worry we create for ourselves and that’s what this post is about today. Even though the manifestations in the body are the same, how we deal with them is a bit different. That’s why Ms. Hitaji’s response made perfect sense to me. The storm we experience is a storm we helped to create and until we do root cause analysis on ourselves, and let Holy Spirit heal our brokenness, we won’t find peace. We’ll always find ourselves at that same Red Sea. What Ms. Hitaji shares is the application of the song that says,
Search me Lord…
If you find anything that shouldn’t be
Take it out and strengthen me
I want to be right
I want to be saved
I want to be whole.
If you truly want to experience peace, you’ll have to expose your flaws and brokenness as Ms. Hitaji suggested to an assigned and trusted mentor, therapist or coach who can guide you on releasing and making changes. That way the stress from that particular Red Sea you’ll never have to experience again.
#ThisWomanKnows healing is the children’s bread.
Lisa N. Alexander is the author and founder of This Woman Knows and What Million-Dollar Brands Know. She is an award-winning filmmaker, director, producer, and writer and is the owner of PrettyWork Creative.
